Salt for Thought

I may have mentioned that I love libraries from time to time. And books too.

Whenever I need wide open spaces to think clearly, I hop on a train to the sea, visit my folks at home (beautiful scenery), or go to a library.

This may seem like an odd choice at first: Narrow spaces between tall shelving, filled mostly with partially open cardboard boxes. Vertically stacked in them huge amounts of sheets with endless columns of tiny signs … .

But it is still true. Imagination needs someone to have it and a safe place to go, and the first place that ever really happened was in books. That is why I love them.

I like to think of a book as a library of ideas. Which makes the library a whole universe of solutions. A vast, open, uncharted space.

Food is a little bit like that for me. Whenever I don’t know what to cook, I look for a story to inspire me. Recipes tell stories. At least the really delicious ones do, I think.

And the (second) most important secret ingredient for good food is an idea (besides time, see [‘Another Secret Ingredient‘]). A vision of how food and everything around it should be. Some of this will come from recipes, some from tradition. But the best will come from inspiration.

Which brings me back to the library. Because every time I go there, not only do I get to wander through the colorful thought landscapes of so many brilliant and inspired people, but I also get to bring back a token of inspiration, a souvenir of experienced passion for a cause, a guide to further explore a field of knowledge I was previously unfamiliar with. Be it a book – or any other medium – about fiction, fact, or food. And then I can give it back, share the inspiration, make it happen again for someone else who might be looking for new ideas in their favorite world of interest. It’s an amazing concept of joint appreciation. Like sharing a meal with friends.

And just my kind of Salt for Thought.

I like to think of a book as a library of ideas. Which makes the library a whole universe of solutions. A vast, open, uncharted space.

Side Notes:

• I know the same has been said about the Internet. Ideas, knowledge, sharing … well, yes, sometimes and in some places that actually happens. That is why I really appreciate the work that some excellent universities, open organizations and civic-minded institutions are doing to make their knowledge available to the public. Because knowledge is like good food – it is most valuable when it is shared.